Usagi Yojimbo 兎用心棒: Animated

I don’t often dwell on what “could be” when it comes to the movies. Projects that I’ve dreamed of have been dashed right before my eyes, properties that have been announced have dwindled into oblivion, and others I’m still waiting for some 10-years after they were announced – but for some reason the thought of an animated Usagi Yojimbo feature has taken a hold of my imagination and won’t let go.

Perhaps it was finally sitting down to watch the recent TMNT release, in which we got an amazing depiction of the turtles on the big screen as never before, or perhaps I’ve been immersing myself in Stan Sakai’s world of Usagi so much lately that it’s just a natural avenue to take but how great would seeing the long-eared Ronin be in full-feature 2-D, or CGI animated film!?

Both 2-D and CGI approaches appeal to me here. Stan’s watercolors and oils/acrylics (?) on numerous pieces are sights to behold and a watercolor-inspired film with the same rich depth as the image attached above would be about the best thing I could imagine. There just isn’t a lot of this type of approach in terms of animation in the U.S. (though Ghibli is hot on its heels in Japan) and it would be a beautiful thing on the big screen, to say the least. That said, I’d also be interested in a CGI approach to Usagi’s world. Pixar, Dreamworks, 20th Century Fox and the like have come so far in the field that the sky is now the limit! The nuances of the medium are so crazy good these days that we could literally see a battle scene the scope of one we witnessed in Book One: “Ronin,” right down to details like the blood trickling down the face from Usagi’s fresh scar to the fire in the eyes of the broken hearted samurai as he witnesses Lord Mifune’s fall.

[An example of the presentation that would be possible in a CGI Usagi film.]

Animating the Edo period of Japan alone would be reason for someone to try to envision such a film, and with all the compelling characters, a highly original world, award winning material to adapt, and a movie going audience that has shown its ability to embrace comic and adventure stories such as this – it seems like this could actually be a greater reality than it might have been 6-7 years ago. Now granted, there’s no reason for me to get my hopes up anytime soon, I know, but if it’s OK with you I think I’ll spend some time with this “what if?”

Right, I was aware of Usagi’s appearances on the new TMNT cartoon (which I’m gratified to see was carried over from the original animated series) and was hoping to one day see these episodes when more comprehensive (and cheaper) TMNT DVD sets were released, but no, I’m afraid I hadn’t yet had the opportunity to see these episodes until I took the time this morning to check out the youtube links you included.

Very fun, and I’m doubly glad that Gin, Tomoe, Lord Noriyuki and so many of the other characters in Usagi’s world made significant appearances in “The Real World.” It was great seeing them come to life on the small screen. Likewise, Leonardo is my favorite of the turtles so seeing him and Usagi interact as friends was very cool as well.

Thanks for sending me to the links, otherwise it might have been awhile.